starting to feel stronger

this week has been another good week of training. If your on the 'couch of doom', then eat extra crisps and have a beer, I worked it off for you this week.

Mon - 2500m swim

Tues - 8km treadmill at speed as I only had a short time before going to pick up Oliver

Wed - 43km bike ride with hills and a 2500m masters swim session

Thursday - 8km run

Friday - 6.5km run

Sat - 21km run

and apart from feeling weak from the last run, I am starting to feel stronger, more able to cope with the training volume rather than just hanging in. But then this was a easier week on the plan. Next week the long run goes upto 24km and the midweek runs start to replace the shorter distances with longer distances.

The strange thing is that I would have expected my weight to drop off a couple of pounds by now, but it has not. Now I'm hoping that this is increased muscle, but it's probably more to do with all the cake that still needs eating up.

End of a good week

That was a good week. I kept up with the running plan, thanks to the treadmill and a good long run today (25km), the first day the temperature has got above freezing all week. There is a load of ice out there on the minor roads around the north side of Boxhill but a lovely day for a run.

Would like to have got another swim in, but Saturday morning 6:30am I found a thick layer of ice on the windscreen built up over 3 days frosts and it was not coming off, so I went back to bed. Committed me!

Feel good about staying on the couch of doom for another week!

Snowman on Boxhill

It snowed on Monday and to show how industrious children can be here is the snowman they built before going to school. When they want to do something they are little powerhouses. Not one of them thought, 'we'll make a snowman tonight', they all got out there asap and in 20 minutes had built a 5ft snowman. If I had the same attitude then I would be doing an awesome amount of training!

My Tadworth 10 time was nothing spectacular. 1:23:05 and position 301, but then I did not expect anything great.

On the positive side, dispite the weather I am doing some good training. Monday in the evening I ran with DMVAC, cold but good and a fair pace. Tuesday was a day of rest and Wednesday I did 8km on the treadmill and a Masters swim session. Swimming really felt good, a tough session but it did feel like I was 'slipping through the water'. I feel good about it. The next couple of days are lower intensity before a long run at the weekend.

All this means that if you signed up to the 'couch of doom', you can stay there and feel good about that post Christmas extra weight. I'm loosing it for you.

Christmas has come ..... and gone .....

and marathon training has been on hold. It all ended on Christmas eve with a good swim. Being so near to 100 lengths I had an eye on the clock and only just made the 100 before the pool closing time. I walked off feeling good with myself! But from then on it was all downhill, that evening we went to a bash at 'the Manor' and the next day was deep into Christmas and the New Year. All with a grand total of zero running, zero swimming and no biking. No I feel like a blobby middle aged blob................... So, what with no contract and the kids back at school, time to start training again. Except it's colder than a freezer, but no matter.

Tadworth 10 last Sunday. I have done it a few times before and the marathon training called for 22 km, so 16km across the Epsom Downs in minus 3 degrees centigrade was a great way to get back into the swing of it. Finishing off with another 6 km on the treadmill to make up the 22km long run forthe week. As long as I get the long runs in each week I should be OK. Today I swam this morning and will run tonight with DMVAC. Time for the thermal running gear to come out.

Proud of Ollie

The week before Christmas and my last week at work. Early in the week I was treadmillling, then midweek Ollie had an award ceremony. Yeah Ollie has been presented with a certificate for being so amazing at school all year. Well done Ollie, we're really proud of you.

By the end of the week I had a free day. So I emailed Martin and came up with this nutty idea of swimming and then riding. So thats last Friday, up at 6am for 1:30 swimming and then on for a bike ride taking in a few hills. What a great morning, but it was a struggle to get up!

All weekend we had friends to stay and any training went out the window as festiveness and wine drinking came in. By Monday I was ready again and have done a 7.5 mile circuit. I might be missing a few sessions this week!

The waiting is over

My moob is feeling OK again, I'm sure it's not OK and should be rested for longer just to make sure, but I don't have longer and need to get going. My marathon plan starts on the 22^nd (first day is a rest day!), and it assumes you are already running a lot; which I am not. In fact I am just about making it around an 8 mile loop at the moment. I need to target a 13 mile run this coming weekend or maybe before as we have friends coming all weekend.

Since my last post I have done a lot of resting my moob and a little bit of running. Was going to bike last Sunday, but that got changed to an 8 mile run because of the weather and potentially ice on the road. I can do without road rash and a broken bike right now. Monday I went to the running club. Yep, my second visit this year. Chatted with a few people I had not seen for a longtime and then joined the 4 strong fast group. Was this wise? Did it align with my Base training goals? No. Should I have gone with the medium paced group? Yes, but I recognized more people in the fast group. So off we went at a quick pace, led by Graham. Graham did the 2007 FLM on a club entry like me. He did it about 10 minutes quicker than me, but since then he has imporved his marathon time by 30 minutes and is now running a 3:05 marathon, which is truly awesome. So he led us off at a quick pace, I was managing to keep up. Then we did 5 sprint circuits around the library and that was my 'game over', and from there on I just about hung on as a back marker. Tuesday was a treadmill night. I really hope that having the treadmill in the garage now means that I won't miss any training runs like I have in the past.

Swimming tonight, and it's the last day of my contract, so I will have time available and hope to get some decent training in. Just wait for the whinging and whining!

Health Warning

'Before starting/modifying your training consult a doctor ..... ' the sign says. What it does not say is,'assembling this treadmill, can lead to injury .....'.

In assembling the treadmill there was a particularly difficult bit that needed some force. In forcing it, I pulled, sprained, bruised my left moob. Well it was a tad sore but I did not think anything of it and continued on, until Wednesday's swimming. By 50 mins into the swim I had a pain in my moob. By the time I went to bed I was having trouble everytime I flexed the muscle. The next day any sneeze or cough was pain and it felt like I could not get a decent breath. Various diagnoses then took place, from a bit of a bruise, to punctured lung, cracked rib, and sprain. So I took a neurofen, seemed to help and today it feels almost pain free again.

I was doing well until then. Running on the treadmill and swimming so it was a shame for this to happen.

Still another week ahead